When I found I was pregnant with our first child, despite all my teacher training, I felt thoroughly inadequate and read everything I could lay my hands on about parenting. Today, bookstores stock a plethora of parenting reference materials and perhaps this intimidating array of resources has contributed to the current parenting outsourcing trend. Or perhaps, as other sources suggest, parents are just too busy, or too lazy, to raise their own kids. Whatever the reasons, families now look to experts to:

provide potty training

establishing sleep patterns for baby

baby-proofing the home

solving picky eating problems

teaching kids how to a ride bike

planning their kid's birthday party

teaching their children basic manners and social skills

picking the perfect baby name (can you believe it?)

So... how competently do you handle your numerous parenting tasks? Are you considering calling in the experts and, are they really 'the experts'?